Mission Accomplished

A couple of months ago, a couple of good friends of mine decided to sign up to run a 10K. One of the girls decided that I should run it with them, too, and she printed out a training schedule for me (despite my vehement insistence that it would never happen). If you know me, you know that I am not particularly athletic, and that I am definitely not a runner. I mean, I have tried running for exercise at different intervals in the past, but I am always quickly reminded of how much I hate to run and of the ways that my body seems to reject the activity. So, I just don't run. Regardless, I put the training schedule up on the refrigerator...

...and then decided that maybe I would give it a shot. Maybe.

I was fairly certain that I would never be able to run 6.2 miles at one time. In the past, the farthest I can really ever remember running is 1.5...maybe 2 miles. And I pretty much hated it. This training schedule started at 2.5 miles. I was pretty sure I would need another entire schedule to get me to that starting point. But, I decided to give it a shot anyway. So, I did. And found that little-by-little, I was able to check off the boxes on that schedule. I mean, I was running those miles slowly (still am), but I was running them...

So, a few weeks ago, I decided that I would sign up for the race. I still wasn't sure that I would be able to run the whole thing, but I decided that I would give it a shot. I made sure to maintain a healthy level of non-commitment when discussing it with my friends - both because it was more fun that way, and because it left room to change my mind :-) But, I kept training with the only goal being to be able to finish the race.

And I did. Yesterday, I successfully finished my first 10K! I managed to run (albeit slowly) from start to finish. I was pretty proud of myself. Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

Before: smiling and wondering internally why I decided this was a good idea...

After: much sweatier, but proud of our accomplishments! And ready for some Flying Biscuit!

AJ and Lauren even placed in their age groups! They were totally surprised and found this pretty hilarious. I was proud of them!

Family Fun

This past weekend, I was commissioned as staff with Word Made Flesh (more on that later). My parents drove up to Atlanta and flew with me to Omaha for the service. Pam and Jeremy (my sister and brother-in-law) drove down from Fargo. It has been super fun to have spend some time with my family! My parents and I (and a couple of fun friends) went to a Braves game on Thursday night before we left:


In Omaha, we wandered around downtown and hung out in one of the parks along the river:




On Sunday morning, we all piled into Pam and Jeremy's Jeep and headed up to Fargo. Let's just say that 5 adults in one car for 6 1/2 hours made for an interesting adventure. We did manage to laugh quite a lot along the way, though! Here are Mom and Pam (and my feet) in the back seat:


More family fun to come...

Birthday Extravaganza 2010

I have been too busy being outside and having fun lately to do much blogging. So, I have some catching up to do! Starting with my amazing birthday extravaganza! Last weekend, two friends took me up to the mountains for my birthday, and it was fabulous! We went hiking at a couple of amazing places, enjoyed some glorious weather, ate lots of yummy things, and just enjoyed having fun together. Lauren and AJ went above and beyond planning a fun weekend for me, including researching restaurants in the area (where we had YUMMY pancakes for breakfast) and calling my mom to get the recipe for my favorite cake. I loved it! Thanks again girls for loving me so well!

Pretty waterfalls at Tallulah Gorge

The rule-breaker convincing the rule-follower to break the rules

AJ laughing on the "sit-there" (you might call it a bench)

Me on a rock (clearly)

A place called "Goats on the Roof" (for obvious reasons) that we saw along the road. AJ may have suddenly crossed multiple lanes of traffic in order to stop here. Maybe.

Ice cream. Yummy. Accompanied by an interesting way to eat it while driving... (Don't worry - we were actually still in the parking lot)

I love these girls!

Lauren the photographer

AJ and Lauren in front of the waterfall that we decided NOT to slide down (Don't you think that looks like it could be dangerous?!?)

The obligatory picture of a foot. I like the way that the water looks.

Rainbow Falls - Thanks, God, for creating such beautiful things for us to enjoy!

Looking down from the top of the falls

Where I told her she wasn't allowed to go any closer without breaking Rules #1, 2, and 3

AJ and Lauren enjoying the beauty of Creation

I love this girl!

(Still to come: pictures from Mountain Extravaganza #1 and Dogwood Festival fun!)

The Many Faces of My Friend AJ

I love my friend AJ. And her many faces. I told her that recently, to which she responded that she actually only has one face. Which, I suppose is true. But, that one face has many, many expressions. Like the following (which were pretty much captured in the course of 2 days):

(Pictures posted with the express texted consent of AJ Jordan and will not be sold, reproduced, or otherwise used for exploitation or personal gain.)

I love you, AJ!

Feeling Blessed

Blessed is exactly what I am feeling after this weekend. I spent the last couple of days celebrating my birthday with two of the most amazing friends ever. I am so blessed to have them in my life! They totally overwhelmed me with their love for me and thoughtfulness in planning one of the most fun birthdays ever! More pictures to come, but I just wanted to say Thanks AJ and Lauren! I love you both!

Easter Feast (in photos)

last minute prep

deliciousness!

proof that the boys did join us

Rachel

Lovely ladies! (Shelley, Aimee, and AJ)

Lauren and I

the cake... (not exactly what it was supposed to look like, but still good!)

AJ's "Oops - what happened to the cake?" face

AJ and I (quite close up...)

Easter eggs!

Top Ten Reasons...

...that April is going to be a better month than March:

1. Dare I say that it would be hard not to be??

2. Spring is here! Complete with blue skies, warm weather, and beautiful trees and flowers to enjoy!

3. I am only working a total of 8 shifts in the entire month of April! (Which includes 2 night shifts this weekend, 6 days the next 2 weeks, and then off from April 16-May 3rd!)

4. My birthday comes, along with my friend Lacey's birthday, my best friend Caroline and Mark's anniversary, and my sister Pam and Jeremy's anniversary. So many things to celebrate!

5. I will be commissioned as staff with Word Made Flesh at the end of the month. I am excited about this next step, and am anxious for all the details to come together to finally be able to move down to Peru. I still don't know exactly when that will be, and I welcome your prayers that my house would sell and that the day would come soon!

6. A roadtrip! My parents and I will be driving from here to Omaha for commissioning, and then likely up to Fargo to visit my sister and bro-in-law. I am so excited to get to see them again!

7. Have I mentioned that I have 2 weeks off from work?? Because I do!

8. The opportunity to celebrate Easter and the amazing gift that Jesus gave to us on the cross.

9. Easter dinner with some fun friends who are like family to me.

10. I declare it so!